Officially as of yesterday, Demonoid has opened its doors back up and is back online. Demonoid shut down almost 5 months ago due to threats by the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association). Demonoid had been hosting its servers in Canada due to the legality up there (eh?!). The CRIA didn't take that lightly and I'm sure the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) had a part in it too.

The message posted by Demonoid was simply, "The CRIA threatened the company renting the servers to us, and because of this it is not possible to keep the site online. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your understanding."

From that point on the users of Demonoid were left in the dark guessing and wondering if the site would ever come back online or if it was down for good. Most had hope and small hints that it would return.

Well, finally yesterday the site went live again after moving its servers and tieing up the lose ends that were required.

Some of you may not agree with torrent sites and so forth. I, for one, am a full supporter. That doesn't mean I condone piracy, which is the main reason torrent sites are frowned upon, but there is also plenty of legal and free things you can download from sites such as Demonoid as well.

Some may also ask, "What's so special about Demonoid?" A worthy question I would say. A few reasons actually. If anyone is familiar with torrent sites most are not very well moderated and usually you are just downloading blind hoping the file is what you just searched for. Demonoid does a few things other torrent sites don't. Firstly, it posts torrents in a blog format. This allows you to see a description of the torrent and any comments people might have including thank yous and help if needed. The site also is very well known for killing and fake torrents or bad torrents quickly. Users can report bad torrents and if thats the case they will be killed accordingly.

That leads into the next big part of Demonoid, the community. The community is what really makes Demonoid what it is. It allows for that "torrent moderation" and the community feel that Demonoid has. Something no other torrent site has. The site is also has limited registrations meaning that you have to get in when they open registration or get an invite from a current member. Without being a member you can still search and download newer torrents, but there is a cutoff date. Anything older than that you need to belong to the site to download the file. Some may think its not worth it, but trust me in that it is. Once you've experienced you will understand what I mean.

It also doesn't hurt that Demonoid is known for also finding more obscure or hard to find torrents. So, with all that said get back on Demonoid and start torrenting (the legal kind of course ). read

Last time I checked, the specs below for my computer do not equal Turning Point status.

Specs:1 GB Ram
2.66 GHz Single Core
Pentium 4

Well, with only a week left for the contest I figured I would enter and test my chances once again. To really start this off I will go back to the Velocity Micro contest. During that period my computer decided to cause me a ton of problems, hence my Fury Edition for the contest: Link

Thus, it concluded with the destruction of my screen. I have since fixed this as I realized I have no money to buy a nice new computer, which is a shame. Plus I found a replacement screen on eBay and it only cost me $100 so it wasn't too bad. Below is a shot of the old screen next to my "not my Turning Point rig."

As you can see, my fury took a toll on the last screen.

With all that being said and my chances of winning the rig being slim, one can only hope. So here's to my two minute photoshopping skills.

Wouldn't this be a pretty site to see? I think so anyway.

I'll tell you one thing though. If I won I might be able to actually play UT3 and run 3ds Max. Man, that would be nice. Maybe then, I would also have to actually buy a desk as my kitchen table would no longer suffice. read

Gibson has basically told Activision that the Guitar Hero series infringes on one of their patents. Gibson said that games in "which players press buttons on a guitar-shaped controller in time with notes on a TV screen, violates a 1999 patent for technology to simulate a musical performance".

Activision has thus called bull and asked the U.S. court to find the claim invalid and stop Gibson from getting any dough from the claim. Activision also said that by waiting three years to raise its claim, the guitar maker had granted an implied license for any technology.

So this is where it starts to get me and I say what the hell?

Gibson has been featured in all the GH games so far and partnered with Activison until now. Activision has also been granted licensing rights from Gibson to model its controllers after their guitars.

It didn't occur to Gibson until now that they were cool with licensing the guitar as a controller, knowing full well what they were doing, but they weren't cool with the actual logistics of the game? Its like saying sure you can model our guitars for your game, you just can't use it....

Then I get to thinking:
1. Why wait so long to file this if this was the case? The series has been around since '05.
2. Rockband anyone?
3. They contributed to the supposed infringing by allowing their guitars to be modeled.

The copy of Gibson's patent showed a method for simulating a live performance using a musical instrument, a 3D headset with stereo speakers, and a pre-recorded concert.

The claim just seems absurd to me all around. Why license peripherals to something you would later claim is breaching a patent of your own?

And it's funny to say that there's no HYPE over Killzone 2. Since the FALSE E3 2005 trailer, there's a hype...and now, when everybody knows Killzone 2 WON'T get the level of E3 2005 trailer, so the devs say "THERE'S NO HYPE OVER KILLZONE 2, KILLZONE 2 WILL BE A GOOD GAME , AS MANY OTHERS". It's more comfortable to think like that and that is a way to answer the "failure" of the final product, (in comparison with E3 trailer, about being the defitinive game pf PS3).

Shame."

Well this shameless comment would not be had or go unnoticed would it? Of course not. Eon, one of the Killzone devs was more than annoyed by comments like this and finally decided to submit his rebuttal. I won't quote the whole thing as its way to long, but here's part of it.

"Honestly. I've started writing this reply three times, switching from angry flaming of the kind of mentality that draws people to wasting their lives making posts like the above, through into a factual listing of the many inaccuracies in your post (almost every word is, in fact, objectively incorrect). I've no idea what makes gamers turn so frigging nasty when Devs don't cater to their every whim and I'm not going to start guessing now - if you want to go be excited about Eight Days then be my guest. You're not commiting apostacy, nobody's going to want to tear you to pieces for it. You're really not going to hurt my feelings."

He also goes on to state some info about that infamous E3 2005 trailer:

"One confused Sony rep claimed it was a movie from the game engine.....One guy not at all affiliated with Guerrilla Games"

I personally do think that, as a whole, fanboyism and trolling/flaming on the web has gotten out of control. It is a sad state that we are in and one not so easily remedied. The response Eon gave though, at least made me chuckle a bit and shows that devs do listen and put up with all this b.s. just like the rest of us. I'm glad that this dev decided to step in and call CowboyJunkie out. It isn't so much a rebuttal to one guy and his unintelligent comments, but it goes out to all those trollers who can find nothing else better to do with their time than to bash another game they haven't even played yet. Kind of reminds me of the stat that the Socom Confrontation forums are in right now......but don't get me started on that.

Flaming/trolling/fanboyism are all part of an epidemic. Maybe its one that we cannot smite so easily and most likely never will and maybe even this incident doesn't really show it completely, but its just one more instance in this growing nuisance. I'm just glad the Kilzone Dev came in and basically owned him. read

So today has revealed a bit of info on a few games regarding their integration into HOME.

First up, Resistance. Home visitors of Resistance will be able to join an interesting room that lets the user explore and lets game owners visit unseen areas of the game. They will also be able to view bonus content in the form of intrecepted radio transmissions that will show us more of the Resistance series' story. There is also a few other features that have not been discussed that much as of yet.

Next, Uncharted. Your Home avatars will be able to explore the game's levels without having to duck and cover for fear of enemies (Resistance will allow this too). One of the coolest features in my opinion is that it will come with a side-scrolling 2D arcade game that you can play....sweet.

Now for me the last info given is about one of the best PS3 games so far in my opinion, Warhawk. The Home lobby will serve as a "war room" where up to eight players can meet and discuss strategy for an upcoming match. This in itself is nothing special, but there will actually be a table with maps of the Warhawk levels where players can put little army men around the map and plan their strategies (think Risk).

People thought Home would be nothing more that a Second Life look-a-like. I disagree. The integration that seems to be going into Home is truly first class, a very immersive experience indeed. If anyone wanted a community experience, this is it. Maybe Live has some competition after all. +1 Sony

So people doubted it, said it wouldnt happen. Well guess what it did. Sony will be repackaging their 80gb SKU with MGS4 and releasing it. Not only will it come with MGS4, but it will also come with a DS3. Not enough you say? Only $500 for this pretty package.

I know I bought a ps3 back in February of last year and don't regret a minute of it, but damn this makes me want to buy another. At a great price and with a great game and the new Dualshock, I couldn't ask for more.

People were wondering what was happening to all of Sony's 80gb PS3's when they started pulling them from stores. Well I guess now everybody knows and I have to say this is a brilliant marketing move. Nobody thought they would package a high profile game in with the ps3 right off the bat, but they are doing it. If the ps3 wasnt already seeing a boost in sales, this is sure to be a hit. This will definitely turn the heads of adopters who've held out and maybe even turn the heads of those who have already.

So the whole Destination PlayStation thats been going on has released a bit of good news, such as the likes of the Dualshock release date, the God of War PSP, and a few others. Now another interesting leak just came out. According to a few sources there, the PlayStation Store is finally getting a graphical user interface overhaul, one planned to arrive alongside Gran Turismo 5 Prologue on April 15 (and the Dualshock I might add). Supposedly the revamp of the Store is going to look more along the lines of the SingStore, which is from Singstar (obviously). If this is the case, then it is definitely a step in the right direction. The current store is a bit clunky and annoying to navigate and a revamp of the userface will definitely be welcomed.

There is not a whole lot of other details, but word is that the navigation would change to a series of icons running along the bottom of the interface. This is yet to be officially confirmed, but looks in line with the releases and changes Sony is making around that time. Spring looks to be big for Sony and if the changes so far arent enough, hopefully Home is still on that Spring release schedule too. If Sony can manage all this, the rest of the year is looking excellent for them. read

There is more word from the retailer conference Destination PlayStation that the DualShock 3—you know, that DualShock we've been waiting for since the PS3's launch—has gotten a US release date.

Set to launch April 15th for $54.99, it's slated to coincide with the release of GT5 Prologue. Theres going to be hordes of people whining about the price as I've already seen, but for the love of God its $5 more. Yeah yeah it should be $50, people will probably even say lower than that, but thats the price this time around for next gen controllers whether we like it or not.

Will I complain about $5, no. Do I really care that much? No. I have my rumble, I will be satisfied.....oh and its only $5. read

This image is from a BioWare session at GDC. Usually nothing too interesting for most of us there, but then what have we? This is a PowerPoint slide about the specifics of recording dialog, especially how far the speaker should be from the mic.

Typically, the answer is 18 inches, but, apparently, there is one exception to that rule, as you can see above. Why do you never hear Ron Jeremy voicing video game characters? Now you know.

Well I personally am looking extremely forward to LittleBigPlanet. The more info I see on it, the more I want it and the more I think its going to be awesome.

But wait!? Theres a dark side where evil lurks. Today, in the latest Edge magazine, it's been revealed that in addition to the emotions and such that your sackboy can perform, there are plans to lip-synch voice chat. That is to say, the characters will move their mouths in roughly the same way you do. Down the line, expect stuff like voice filters, too. Now most of you including myself are thing this idea is actually pretty cool, which I think is extremely understandable. Then it hits me, good ole' Jackie boy has been reigning terror about all these "M" rated games and such, but now this game will come to haunt him.

Verbal abuse over videos games that one can now see in person, oh dear God.... Slanderizing Jack's name....oh dear God yet again. What will we ever do to keep kids away from this game for fear of tainting there pure minds and becoming foul mouthed, punk, little brats?

Who would have ever thought this would be the outcome? I cry for those young souls who will witness the tenacity of this game. Well, ok maybe maybe I just thought this whole thing was funny and wrote it for a chuckle. But I must say, lip-syching ftw! read

So I'm not even sure how I came across this today when I was looking up some things on the computer. But when I watched it I was like get out of here..... The kid just falls out of the car and the parent doesnt notice until the kid starts walking back to the car. Then the parent walks around the other side of the car.

Hilarity ensued with the film, yet I wonder how dumb of a parent you have to be to let that happen. Seems like something you would here that Michael Jackson or Britney would do.

Here is a look at the new Alienware new curvy gaming monitor which has 2880x900 resolution with .02 ms response time that is on show at CES 2008.

I got to say...this thing is freakin' awesome!

And for those with sharp eyes you can see the seams a little inbetween the segments, but Alienware assures that this will not be the case when it is released later this year to the public. The price is undisclosed thus far, but undoubtedly one will be shelling out some big bucks for this big beauty.

Heres a quick video of it in action, dont mind the crappy video quality:
[embed]63714:6688[/embed] read

About NyghtcrawleROne of us since 11:22 AM on 11.27.2007

Name: Eric
Age: 22

Consoles Owned Currently:PS3
PSP
Custom SNES
Gameboy Color (Oh yeah)

PSN Handle: NyghtHawk

Well I guess about me...

Basically, I am currently in my 5th year of college as an Architecture major and I have one more year to go after that. Love design to death even though it can suck all your energy and life away. I've been a gamer since I can remember. Had an Atari when I was like 4 and been going strong ever since. I love video games for what they are and I'm not big into arguing what system is better than another (unless someone really irks me the wrong way). Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But I guess since this is my blog, I will admit that I am diehard Sony fan, tried and true. It doesn't mean that I hate the 360 or Wii or whatever, it just means I prefer my PS3 and PSP. Oh, and I'm also a Socom fanatic. Love the game to death and still play to this day. Confrontation anyone? I also can't forget my SNES. That was the console I truly "grew" up on and love it dearly.

Don't lie, you want it.

I think most people will realize that I'm real easy to get along with. I might have my opinions but if you can respect them then I can respect yours. If everyone on the internet stopped being good for nothing fanboys it would make life so much easier...

The Destructoid community is a fun one to be a part of. Feel free to hit me up, disagree with me, say you hate my opinion, befriend me, or whatever else is on your mind.

Last but not least just remember my favorite quote ever,"I guess if luck wasn't involved, I'd win every one."